Gemotions

Sarah crumpled the invitation, a brittle sound in the quiet apartment. The edges of the paper bit into her palm. She'd been avoiding her phone for days, knowing this was coming.

Her reflection in the darkened window showed a woman aged beyond her years, her smile faded. She replayed the scene in her mind, over and over, the echoes of her voice, the accusations. The memory was a persistent hum in the background of everything.

She sank onto the sofa, hugging her knees to her chest. A tremor ran through her, an icy prickling that started in her toes and spread upward. The reunion loomed, a vast, echoing chamber filled with the ghosts of what she’d done.